Osun election: Optics and prospects of redirection, by Adekunle Adekoya

THE governorship election of Osun State, which was an off-cycle election, held last week, and the winner is already known. In fact, incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party won, polling 511,067 votes to beat his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the APC who polled 444, 815 votes. All that is no longer news. The APC, ruling at the federal level with President Bola Tinubu since 2023 was widely favoured to win the election. In Nigeria, this is not an unusual wish. The widely-touted incumbency factor, the use of state resources to further party interest, and the deployment of state security outfits on election day have usually helped swing election outcomes in desired directions...